


To Be Played in a Minor Key

by Squidgilator



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Didn't meet at Hogwarts, Alternative Universe - Remus didn't go to Hogwarts, M/M, Remus is a musician, wolfstar
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-02
Updated: 2018-02-08
Packaged: 2019-03-12 14:02:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,268
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13548867
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Squidgilator/pseuds/Squidgilator
Summary: What if Remus never made it to Hogwarts, but he met the other Marauders anyway? Remus is a concert violinist and an unlicensed werewolf; Sirius, James, and Lily are aurors investigating strange goings-ons at a London concert hall. Paths collide.





	1. First Concerto

Sirius fidgeted restlessly in his velvet, padded seat, peering around at the slowly assembling crowd. The concert hall was small and hot, and he was uncomfortably aware of the scratchy label of his new shirt. 

"I don't know why three of us had to come to this," he said, sounding a little too resentful, even to himself. "I mean, not that I don't want to help," he amended quickly. "But three of us feels like overkill."

"Oh, shut up, Sirius," said Lily, cheerfully. "If the Order is paying for your night out, you don't turn it down."

Lily was in fact dressed for a night at the concert hall, resplendent in a green silk dress and black shawl. She looked positively regal, and was watching the crowd filter into the hall with obvious enjoyment. In contrast, James and Sirius were both looking uncomfortable in suits that neither of them had worn in at least six months. 

"I'd rather the Order paid me to get a couple pints at The Head," grumbled Sirius. He started flipping through the program, skimming the music descriptions and musician biographies. 

"We can do that, too," offered James, consolingly. "This should only last a couple hours or so, right, Lily?"

Lily just rolled her eyes, craning her neck to look around the hall. James turned to Sirius and nudged him with an elbow.

"We'll go to The Head after," he said, quietly. "Besides," he added, "I don't know what you're complaining about; you _like_ Mozart." 

Sirius sighed. He knew he was being a poor sport, and he mentally kicked himself for ruining what might be a perfectly good night. "Sorry mate, I'm just finding it hard to relax when I'm supposed to be watching for magical misdemeanors. It's hard to enjoy the music _and_ keep an eye out for curse-throwers."

James nodded sympathetically. "Well, if we're really lucky our little friend will wait until the last movement to do anything."

Lily turned towards them, her eyes sparkling. "And if we're really, _really_ lucky he won't do anything at all and we'll get to come back!"

Sirius laughed in spite of himself. "Maybe we should catch this bloke and then 'forget'"--Sirius made obnoxiously large air quotes--"to tell Dumbledore. How long do you think The Order will keep paying for concert tickets? Two months? A couple years?"

James got a mischievous sparkle in his eyes. "Right! And why stop at the Royal Albert? Maybe we should stage a magical misdemeanor of our own at the Revue--er--" he looked guiltily at Lily. "I mean, the Old Vic."

Lily rolled her eyes again and turned away, and James looked chastened. They all watched the crowd for a moment. 

"Caught any suspicious activity yet?" James finally asked nobody in particular, looking around at the well-dressed socialites. "Because all I've seen is a man sneaking in a strangely shaped package and it turned out to be sausage rolls."

Sirius perked up. "Where? You can't bring food in here! Should we confiscate them?"

James snorted. "And say what, that we're the hired sausage police?" His expression turned slightly wistful. "Although... I am hungry."

Without looking away from the stage, Lily pulled a strangely wrapped packet out of her very small purse--much too small to hide a package of that size without magical adjustment. Without a word, she handed it to James. He looked at it, stunned. "Is this--" he tore into it, revealing a slightly squashed collection of sausage rolls. Looking up at Lily, he breathed in happy adoration: "You glorious, brilliant woman--I could write you a sonnet right now."

Lily smiled at him, a trifle smugly. "I'd keep those sonnets between you and me if you don't want to be nicknamed 'Scrumptious Thighs' Potter." 

James immediately turned bright red, and Sirius had just rounded on him with wide, delighted eyes, mouthing " _Scrumptious Thighs?_ " when the lights dimmed abruptly. A man stepped on stage and said into his microphone: "Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to the Royal Albert Hall!"

James watched the announcer steadfastly as the introduction continued, the tips of his ears maroon and his cheeks pink. Sirius resolved to bring up this new tidbit of mortification later and sat back in his seat. He watched in interest as the conductor was announced and walked onto the brightly lit stage. Well, bounced. No, _bounded_. The conductor, all of five feet tall and with an utterly ridiculous mop of curly hair, _bounded_ up to the podium and beamed out across the audience below, his face such a perfect map of delight that Sirius couldn't help but feel a little bit charmed--although mostly just amused. 

The conductor turned and beckoned backstage with a flourish. Out walked ten or twelve musicians, all carrying wind instruments. They sat down as the audience applauded, and within moments the concert was underway. 

Sirius found himself enjoying the concert more than he expected. Although he tried to glance around every few minutes, keeping an eye especially on the balcony seats, he was, for the most part, able to enjoy the music. Most of all, he was able to enjoy the conductor--a ridiculously buoyant and expressive man who conducted with such spirited intensity that there were several moments when Sirius thought he might accidentally throw himself off the stage with the force of his gestures. He was tiny and disheveled--growing more and more disheveled by the moment--but it was clear to everybody present just how much the music moved and electrified him. That alone lent him a dignified power that Sirius couldn't help comparing to the power he felt any time he was around Dumbledore. 

When the first concerto ended, Sirius clapped loudly, all the while keeping one eye on the balcony seats for suspicious activity. The witch or wizard that Sirius, James, and Lily were on the lookout for today was probably just a prankster--none of the magical 'incidents' at the Royal Albert had resulted in casualties thus far--but Dumbledore had warned them to be careful just the same. After all, any unlawful magic done in public these days, especially in areas so dense with muggles, could not be treated lightly. And Dumbledore had suspicions about this case in particular... something they had all learned to take extremely seriously. 

As the conductor introduced the next piece, the musicians on stage all got up and moved seats so that they were clustered together to stage right. At the same time, more musicians began walking out from backstage and filtering into the rows of seats. 

Just as the conductor was wrapping up his spirited description of the next concerto, something caught Sirius' eye. He squinted at one of the violinists who had just sat down, a tall young man with floppy brown hair and a slightly ill-fitting suit. The man was adjusting his jacket self-consciously, looking as uncomfortable as Sirius felt in his own suit. Sirius could have sworn he had seen something in the pocket...

It was halfway through the next movement before he saw it again, when the young man leaned to one side to swig from a bottle of water beside him. Sirius was sure now--the man had a wand inside his jacket. For the rest of the movement Sirius sat impatiently, watching intensely as the man picked up, played, and replaced his violin throughout the piece--barely listening or seeing the rest of the orchestra, the conductor forgotten. 

As soon as the movement ended and people began clapping, Sirius leaned into James' side and said over the applause: "The violinist, in the second row on the end closest to us--he's a wizard!"

As James craned his head to look, an old, heavily made-up woman in front of them turned around and beamed at Sirius. 

"He is, isn't he?" She said, excitedly. "Such passion!"

Sirius glared at her with such ferocity that her face fell immediately and she quickly turned around, looking shocked. As one, James and Lily whirled to glare at Sirius.

" _What?_ " Sirius whispered. "He _is_. He has a _wand_."

"We are _supposed_ to be _inconspicuous_ ," hissed Lily. 

"Oh," said Sirius, glancing guiltily at the women in front of them. Even the back of her head looked affronted. 

The applause was dying down and the musicians were setting up for the next movement, so Sirius just gave James and Lily an apologetic look and jabbed a thumb towards the violinist before turning back to the performers. Sirius was more tense than he had been through the first concerto, but not overly worried--he couldn't imagine that the man would try anything from stage. It wouldn't make sense; even the muggles would remember if a concert musician brandished a stick mid-movement and something blew up. Sirius thought maybe the man would sneak off during the intermission--or maybe do something from backstage while he was waiting to come back on for the final movement. 

Sirius suddenly remembered he still had his program curled up in his hand, slightly crushed but still readable. He quietly flipped through it to the biographies and looked over the pictures. He found the picture he was looking for easily; the man looked exactly the same as he did on stage. Floppy brown hair, big eyes, sharp cheekbones--he wasn't bad looking, Sirius thought vaguely. He looked strangely sad in the picture, but Sirius thought it might just be the "artistic headshot" look. 

His name was Remus Lupin, and his biography was short and boring: he grew up south of London, went to Keele University, and had been playing violin all his life. There was a sentence about what an honor it was to be playing at the Royal Albert, and then a list of other places in the UK he had played. Sirius made a mental note to check if any of the other theaters on the list had experienced strange goings-ons while Remus had been there. 

Sirius looked briefly back up at the stage, and then, frowning, looked up again. There was something... different... about the conductor. Sirius couldn't quite put his finger on it--was the man... taller? The next moment he had figured it out, and had to stifle a curse. The conductor was _floating_. Only a few inches off the stage, and very steadily--so steadily, in fact, that he continued to tap his foot as before, not realizing that he was tapping nothing but air. But definitely floating.

Sirius frantically nudged James with an elbow but then realized that James must have already been aware of what was going on--he was white as a sheet and clutching his wand in his pocket. Lily, too, had a hand on her wand and was whispering to herself feverishly. Watching the conductor, Sirius realized suddenly that the man was still rising--very slowly, but relentlessly--he was now a full four inches above the stage. 

The concerto was coming to a close. With a huge crescendo and a sweeping movement from the oblivious conductor, it ended with a powerful crash. The conductor held his position for a beat, and then turned to face the audience for a bow. 

Mid-bow, he realized what was happening. His face drained of all color and he froze, still bent over. Despite the strangely awkward pose, most of the audience remained unaware, probably too far away to see much of anything. As the applause rang up around the theater, the conductor finally looked up, ashen-faced, and began to scream. 

Sirius, James, and Lily were up on their feet and racing for the stage in a moment. Lily had her wand out from under her shawl, although still partially concealed, and was muttering a counterspell. James was heading for the conductor, and Sirius could guess that he was going to try and knock him out of the air. The audience was falling into disarray around them--some people were just confused, but others looked frightened. 

In the midst of this confusion, Sirius looked for Remus Lupin, the violinist with a wand, and found him--looking just as shocked as everyone else. Sirius was running towards the stage to grab him, get his wand away, but he hesitated at the look on Remus' face: confusion, fear, and panic. Either Remus was a very good actor, or he hadn't cast the charm. 

At the moment that Sirius slowed in confusion, Lily's counterspell appeared to work, and the conductor fell with a jolt onto solid ground. Rolling over, he immediately vomited onto the stage, white as a sheet and convulsing with horror. James was upon him in the next moment, checking him surreptitiously for injury or cursework while trying to comfort him with soothing words. 

The clamor from the audience was deafening--Sirius wondered if there was a protocol set in place for this kind of thing. As if to answer this question, the announcer from the beginning of the concert ran onto the stage and conferred briefly with James before standing back up and stepping to the microphone. 

"Ladies and gentlemen--" he started, but his voice was drowned out by the din of the audience. He tried again, louder: " _Ladies and gentlemen!_ "

The audience slowly quieted as people turned to look at the stage, conscious that somebody was trying to restore order and ready for sense to be returned to the evening. 

"Thank you," said the announcer, when the audience had quieted considerably. "Unfortunately, Mr. Dragovan is not feeling well," he said, gesturing to the prone conductor. Sirius almost laughed at the extreme understatement. "We will have to cancel the remainder of the concert. Please proceed quietly to the exits. And thank you, as always, for coming."

He bowed low. Sirius couldn't quite believe that this unsatisfying dismissal would work--but sure enough, there was some scattered applause before the sound of talking and gathering of belongings welled up again. In much calmer groups, the audience began to move out of the concert hall. 

Sirius, shaking his head in disbelief, turned to watch the musicians. The announcer had turned to them and was speaking in a harried tone, saying something about how they'll be paid in full for the night and the practice schedule will be determined at a later time. A few of them were paying attention but most were craning their necks to look at the conductor and James, still on the floor of the stage. Lily was taking advantage of the confusion to scout around the edges of the stage, looking for clues. 

Sirius ran over to her and pulled her close to whisper: "I'm going to check out the violinist."

Lily frowned. "Sirius, we were watching him--he didn't have his hand anywhere near his wand. And he didn't say anything either; he looked totally absorbed."

"I know, but why the bloody hell is a wizard in a muggle orchestra? And come on--a wizard in the concert hall that we're investigating for magical misdeeds? It can't be a coincidence."

Lily looked unsure, so Sirius continued, "I'm just going to ask him a few questions. Let him know we're looking into it. He might offer to help!"

Lily hesitated, but finally waved him away. "Fine. But come help us look for evidence when you're done." 

Sirius nodded, and then slipped across the hall and walked quickly backstage. He found a room off the hallway between stage and practice room and waited there, watching the musicians file past. After a few minutes, Remus walked by--thankfully, alone. Darting out, Sirius clamped a hand around Remus' arm.

Before Sirius could blink, Remus had whirled around, and with a single jerk, pulled his arm out of Sirius' grasp. Sirius was briefly surprised by how strong the skinny man was and made a mental note not to underestimate him again.

"Who the _fuck_ are you?" Remus said, looking Sirius up and down, anger coloring his cheeks.

"Who the fuck am _I_?" mocked Sirius in a stage whisper, pulling himself to his full height. "I'm not the one who sat on stage with a wand in his pocket while a poor muggle was levitated against his will."

Remus blanched. "I don't know what you're talking about," he said stiffly, backing away.

"Oh, I think you do," said Sirius, taking a step closer. "I think you know _exactly_ what I'm talking about."

He nodded towards the pocket in which Remus had stashed his wand. Remus, seemingly involuntarily, let his hand drift up as if to check that the wand was still there.

"Fuck," he muttered, mostly to himself. He looked towards the stage and then back towards the practice room, seeming torn. Finally seeming to make a decision, he stalked past Sirius into the small room off the hallway--the one in which Sirius had been waiting. Sirius followed him in, and Remus turned to face him, scowling.

"Look, it's not what you think, alright?" he said. "I didn't cast that spell."

"Oh, I didn't think you did," replied Sirius, coolly.

Remus looked taken aback.

"Oh. Uh-" he floundered, clearly unsure how to proceed. "Er, how?" he finally said, looking nervous. Sirius tried to look imperious, making full use of the upper hand.

"Well, first of all, you never touched your wand. Second of all, you were playing the whole time. Third of all, you looked like you were about to faint when the conductor started screaming."

Now Remus looked affronted.

"I did not!" he said. "I was concerned. I know Joe, he's a good guy."

"And there's another reason I don't think you did it," said Sirius, reasonably.

Remus didn't seem to know how to respond. Finally, he said, "Okay. Well. That's good, I suppose." But he still looked nervous, especially with Sirius looking convincingly imperious. "So, uh," he said, looking like he would rather not be asking the following question, "what do you want with me?"

Sirius actually had to think about that for a moment. What did he want from Remus, exactly? In truth, he wasn't sure that Remus hadn't cast the levitation charm. He knew it was better for Remus not to know that, of course. And he was also just curious--if Remus wasn't the magical troublemaker, then what was he doing in a muggle orchestra, hiding his wand and pretending he didn't know anything about a spell that had happened right in front of him?

"I'm curious," he said finally. "Curious about why a _wizard_ went to Keene University and is now playing violin in a muggle orchestra. And I suppose I want to know whether this particular wizard wants to help us catch the guy who's giving wizardry a bad name." He added.

Remus eyed Sirius suspiciously. When he finally spoke, it was noncommittal.

"So, it's the same person? All of these magical... _events_... at the concert hall--it's one person?"

Sirius nodded. "We think so."

Remus gave him a sharp look. "We?"

Sirius nodded and grinned conspiratorially. "We."

"You and your friends, that couple you were with?"

It was Sirius' turn to be taken aback--he hadn't thought that Remus had noticed him in the audience. Again, he made the mental note to not underestimate Remus--in brawn or in brain.

"Yes. Those two. But there's more of us."

Remus nodded thoughtfully. "And you want my help," he said, slowly, seeming to feel out the words.

Sirius smiled. "You could be the inside man, like."

Remus gave a small half smile in return. He tapped his bow against his leg, once, twice. Then he walked past Sirius to the door.

"I'll think about it," he said as he brushed past.

"Wait," said Sirius, turning after him. "How am I going to know what you decide?"

"You'll have to come back," said Remus, tossing a smile over his shoulder. He disappeared out the door, leaving Sirius feeling a little silly. But despite being annoyed at Remus' flippancy, he couldn't help but be a little impressed, too. He liked the musician already. He left the small room hoping that Remus would agree to help--and that he could figure out what, exactly, the young man was up to.


	2. Accelerando

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Remus figures out if he wants to help Sirius, James, and Lily--and whether he can do that without giving away too much about himself.

It wasn't until Remus had finished packing up his violin in the practice room that he realized he had never managed to get the other wizard's name. He mentally berated himself, frustrated by how easily he had been distracted by the young man going on the offensive. He sat with his head in his hands for a moment, thinking about the night's events. Were the two wizards and the witch here tonight because of the strange events that had been happening lately? Or was it just a coincidence? Did they really want Remus' help or did they think he was the miscreant? Remus knew how suspicious it looked--he didn't want to think about what would happen if an investigation was focused on him. And an investigation led by whom? 

Suddenly it occurred to him that the man that had confronted him minutes ago must have headed back to the stage, where his friends presumably still were. He got up and quickly ran back to the main hall. Right before the hallway ended, he stopped, lurking just past the doorway so that he was obscured in the shadows but had a clear view of the stage. Sure enough, as he peered into the hall, he saw the man was standing with the couple he had been sitting next to earlier: a beautiful red-haired woman in a green dress and another tall man with messy black hair and round glasses.

They were conferring quietly amongst themselves, watching as the conductor, Joe, was ushered out of the main door on the arm of his wife. Joe's wife looked red-eyed and anxious, and was stroking Joe's arm with nervous intensity. Remus couldn't blame her--Joe still looked green around the gills after what was probably his first, and hopefully his last, experience with magic. 

When Joe, his wife, and the accompanying staff had left, it was just the two wizards and the witch left in the hall, talking quietly. Remus couldn't hear any of what they were saying, but the conversation looked serious and solemn. As he watched, the red-haired witch turned to the wizard with round glasses, and her voice rose so that Remus caught the end of the sentence:

"--and about the scorch marks, James!"

The man--James--rubbed the small of her back, soothingly. When he spoke, it was at a relatively normal volume, and Remus gathered that they didn't think anybody was still here. Or, perhaps more likely, they didn't realize just how good the acoustics were in the Royal Albert. Remus sent a silent thank you to the architects. 

"There's nothing we can do about it now. They're long gone. All we can do is come back and try again."

"And keep an eye on the violinist," said the other wizard, darkly. Remus felt a little jolt of annoyance despite himself. So he _had_ been lying about believing Remus' side of the story. 

The witch turned on the man who had just spoken, looking about as annoyed as Remus felt. "Sirius, I'm telling you--I don't think it was him. I _never_ saw him touch his wand, and he looked just as shocked everyone else. Plus, that spell was being maintained the whole time! I had to break the connection between wand and--whatever his name was--Joe--before the spell dropped. The violinist couldn't have been casting."

The young man--Sirius--looked defensive. "Fine, but he might have known what was going to happen, right? Maybe got the other guy in?"

The witch shrugged. "Maybe. I'm not saying you should believe every word he tells you. But give him a chance--if he really does want to help us, he could end up being really useful."

Remus felt a rush of gratitude towards the red-haired woman. And now he knew Sirius' name, as well as James'. The trio was clearly close: they had an easy familiarity that Remus envied. Even now, in the midst of an argument, there was a current of fondness that undercut the exasperation. 

Meanwhile, Sirius was looking grudgingly convinced by the witch's reasoning. 

"Fine-I'm giving him a chance," he said. "But don't say I didn't warn you."

The witch held up her hands in acquiescence. "I would never," she said solemnly. "Now," she continued, glancing around one last time at the hall. "Should we go get that pint?"

The three of them made their way towards the main exit, and Remus slipped back to the practice room. As he pulled on his scarf and overcoat, he thought about what he was going to do. He already knew that he wanted to help--somehow. But could he risk any more contact with these people? He guessed that they already knew he hadn't attended traditional wizarding school and that he was living disguised as a muggle. If they didn't know yet, they would find out soon enough. His other, larger secret was much better guarded, but it was impossible to hide it forever. The closer they got, the more at risk he was. 

But it was impossible not to help--how could he watch someone like Joe be manipulated like that and not step in? The strange incidents at the Royal Albert had started small and subtle but seemed to be growing more alarming by the day. This latest trick, although technically harmless, had clearly shocked and terrified the poor conductor. 

By the time he was leaving through the back door of the building, he had resolved to help however he could-but keep his distance from whatever organization Sirius was part of. He didn't need to be part of a magical police force, or even close to one. He would help them at the Royal Albert, but if he had to, he could disappear. His stomach churned unhappily at the thought of giving up the small life he had built in London, at starting over somewhere else. Then he thought firmly to himself that he wouldn't need to--that this would all be over soon enough. 

He hoped he was right. 

It was three nights later when the orchestra played again, under a different conductor. Joe, by all accounts, was recovering from the shock but still not quite ready to come back to work. The substitute conductor was nowhere near as fun to work with, but he was more than competent and they had a good practice run the night before the Monday concert. 

As Remus filed on to the stage with the other musicians, he caught a glimpse of bright red hair in the corner of his eye. When he surreptitiously glanced over, he found James, Sirius, and the young woman they were with last time sitting in almost exactly the same seats. They were watching the crowd more intently than before, particularly the front row center aisle. Remus wondered if they had found the scorch marks under those seats. 

Distracted by these thoughts, he almost missed the cue to raise his instrument, although luckily he snapped to reality just in time. Soon, he was focused on the piece--a beautiful concerto that he loved. It was difficult and fast, but he loved the swell of the music and the cheerful melody that he got to play. 

The rest of the concert passed quickly, and before he knew it the conductor had stepped off the stage and was waiting in the wings until he could come out for an encore. Remus glanced towards the seats he had been watching all night and realized that Sirius had gone--only James and the red-haired witch were in their seats, still watching the crowd. Remus swept a look around the hall but couldn't see Sirius, and then it was time to play. 

When the encore had finished and the musicians were all standing to bow, Sirius had still not returned. It wasn't until Remus was filing backstage with the rest of the musicians that he saw where Sirius had disappeared to: Sirius was leaning, arms folded, in the doorway of the same room in which he had spoken with Remus three days ago. 

Remus glanced around at his fellow players, but decided they would barely notice if he ducked briefly into the small room. He walked towards Sirius, who nodded and stepped back into the small space, letting Remus follow him in. 

"It's a better show when you get to see the whole thing, yeah?" said Remus, smiling wryly. 

"Yeah, it was," said Sirius, looking a bit like he wasn't quite expecting to be talking about the music of the evening--despite it being a music hall, Remus thought to himself.

"So, no out-of-the-ordinary occurrences on your end either, I take it," Sirius continued, half as a question and half as a statement. 

"No," replied Remus, perching on a table that had been left in the room as if abandoned to its lonely fate. "Our troublemaker was otherwise occupied, it would seem."

Sirius nodded. "Well, we thought we might see a lag between... events. But the plan is to keep showing up, waiting to see if anything else happens."

Remus cocked his head to one side, considering something. "Who's paying for all this? Tickets to this show aren't cheap. I should know."

Sirius grinned. "We've got benefactors."

There it was again, the word "we." Remus was itching to know who was pulling Sirius' strings, but he did not want to end up in a situation where he was forced to volunteer information in return. 

Sirius seemed to sense that Remus wasn't going to respond to his previous statement, so after a beat he continued: "So? Have you decided whether we're worth helping?"

He looked expectantly at Remus, and Remus felt a surge of something like pride: a sense of being wanted, of being potentially useful. He couldn't help it; he liked this. Liked being wanted and liked feeling that he could be a part of something. He tried not to let this show, and simply shrugged. 

"Sure," he said, flatly. "I'm in, as long as I don't have join your little club. I'm just helping to help out Joe and the company."

Sirius looked a trifle disappointed, Remus thought. Possibly he had been hoping the Remus would leap at the chance of getting to be a part of whatever organization was buying concert tickets left and right. But in the end, he managed to smile at Remus and held out his hand. 

"Good," he said, warmly. "Lily said to give you a chance, and I'm all for it. Let's grab a drink and talk about a plan."

And so Remus found himself at a pub around the corner, shaking hands with James and Lily and getting settled into a booth to talk about the events of the past month. They were all business, talking in hushed tones about the spells that they knew had been cast thus far and whether there were any potential leads. Remus found that they knew almost all of what had happened already, although he could add in a few extra anomalous events that only a few people had noticed and all of the muggles had passed off as a trick of the light or something equally non-mystical.

He liked Lily immediately--she was smart and sharp and dreadfully observant, but had a quick, warm smile and an easy laugh. Ten minutes in, he had almost dismissed James as being friendly but rather dull. But then James made a few clever connections between different spells and Remus realized with respect that he had misjudged him. Sirius, meanwhile, was even sharper than Lily--fiercely intelligent and with a cunning, biting wit. The three of them had an easy rapport that moved quickly and easily between businesslike planning and jokey, good-natured teasing. Remus found himself simultaneously intimidated and fiercely jealous.

They didn't say much about the group they were a part of--just vague allusions to a hierarchy of sorts and some side comments about resources to which they might have access. Remus didn't pry--honestly, he didn't want to know more than he did already. Or rather, he desperately _did_ want to know, but knew that he couldn't risk it. 

They also didn't ask much about himself, even though he was steeling himself to dodge questions like: why didn't you go to a wizarding school? Or, why play in a muggle orchestra? But the questions never came--none of the three ever seemed to be probing him for any kind of information, although at some point Sirius did ask him in a sideways kind of way: "What made you decide to help?"

Remus didn't even think about, just told them the truth: "I can't let anybody hurt my friends again."

They had all looked at him intently, and Remus had felt the sudden need to clarify. 

"Joe, I mean. He's a great conductor, and a good guy. I've never seen him look so--so scared, I guess. And the person who would do something like that to him, for _sport_ \--" he shuddered and looked down at his hands wrapped around a pint glass. "That person needs to be stopped." He finished flatly.

The table was silent around him, and when he finally looked up he caught Sirius looking at him thoughtfully. James and Lily were looking at each other, a silent conversation that they broke off when they noticed Remus watching. Remus coughed and changed the subject quickly, and the mood lightened again. 

By the end of a couple hours and a few rounds, they had decided on tasks for the week: Remus was to keep an eye on the musicians and look out for strange behavior, as well as scout out the hall before concerts to look for any magical trip wires or other set-ups. Sirius would stay in the balcony from now on, watching the audience from above. James and Lily would stay on the ground floor, close to the stage, ready to intervene if necessary. They would all keep an eye out for wands, potion flasks, and other magical tokens. Between shows Sirius, James and Lily would do some research to find out if the Royal Albert really was the only concert hall being affected. 

When they got up to leave, Lily shook Remus' hand warmly, smiling up at him. "Thank you so much for helping, Remus. We appreciate it, and I'm glad that it's _you_ that we met."

Remus felt a rush of warmth through his chest, and his cheeks, he was fairly sure, were going pink with embarrassment. He mumbled something inconsequential and busied himself with his hat and scarf. 

"Lily, don't embarrass the man" said James, teasingly. "We don't want to lose him this early in the game. Besides, he could turn out to be useless!" He winked at Remus to show that he was joking, and Remus grinned. 

"Yes," he said, seriously, "For all you know I have the observational powers of a scone."

Lily laughed. "Somehow, I doubt it. But I've been wrong before!"

"Wait--you've been wrong?" said James, looking horrified. "I feel betrayed! I've married the wrong woman!"

Lily shoved him, laughing, as they all began squeezing their way out of the busy pub. Sirius fell into step next to Remus, a yard or so behind James and Lily. 

"They're insufferable, but you'll learn to love them," Sirius said, nodding towards the couple and grinning at Remus.

"I think I already do," said Remus, trying to keep his voice light. He really did feel like he was falling in love; he felt more at home with and accepted by these three people than he had in a long time. It took an immense amount of will to remember that he would never be fully accepted by them, would never be able to tell them everything about himself. He was torn between contentment and loneliness, and as he faced the walk back to his small, dark apartment, loneliness was beginning to win. 

Sirius touched his arm then, and Remus looked over at him. Sirius looked intent and grave as he looked at Remus, and Remus felt a shiver of something go down his back as the cool gray eyes bore into his own. 

"I really do trust you," he said, not breaking eye contact although the pub crowd surged around them. "I didn't at first, but I really do think you want to help. And I'm glad it's you, too."

Remus didn't know how to respond. His stomach flipped pleasantly as Sirius held his gaze under the warm glow of the overhead lamps. After a moment, Remus just smiled and said a quiet and sincere "thank you." Sirius nodded curtly and turned back towards the door. Moments later they emerged to find James and Lily looking bemused at how long it taken them to get out.

"We thought we'd lost you!" laughed James, his arm raised to hail a cab. "Come on, Sirius, we'll give you a ride home. Remus--can we give you a lift?"

"No, don't worry, I live pretty close," lied Remus. He needed the walk home tonight. "I'll see you on Wednesday!"

The three shouted goodbyes as they piled into the cab, and Remus watched as the car pulled away. He felt an ache in his chest as he realized just how much he had enjoyed himself-and just how much he was hiding. Turning his jacket collar up against the chill, he turned towards his apartment and began the long trek home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trying to update this about once a week!


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